Granulated laundry-bluing



UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

HENRY SAWVYER, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS.

GRANULATED LAUNDRY-BLUING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,634, dated January11, 1881.

Application filed October 3, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY SAWYER, of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Laundry-Bluing, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to an improvement in laundry-bluing; and itconsists in reducing the bluing or indigo to a granulated form, insteadof pulverizing it, as heretofore, the object being to furnish an articlewhich can be readily poured from a bottle or box of small size, andwhich will not deface, when dry, objects with which it may come incontact.

Heretofore it has been customary to grind the bluing or indigo until itwas reduced to averyfine powder, and then place itin boxes or packagesfor the market. In this state the nature of the particles of the powderis such that they hold together in the box and cannot be readily pouredout. Besides this, the powdered material attaches itself to any articlewith which it may come in contact, thereby very often causing injury andinconvenience. These two defects are overcome by the present invention,which consists in simply reducing the bluing or indigo to a granulatedform, the grains or particles being made about the size of the grains ofordinary rifle-powder. This is the size which I prefer; but I do notlimit myself to any particular size.

The reduction of the bluing may be accomplished in any convenientmanner, but will probably be efiected by grinding more readily than inany other way. In the present instance I take the crude lumps of indigoor bluing, and pass them between rollers which are adjusted withrelation to the size of the grains to be produced. The proper adjustmentof the rollers can readily be accomplished by preliminary experiments.The bluing, after it has been crushed by passing through the rollers, issifted, the meshes of the sieve being of such size that they will onlypermit the escape of such particles as have been reduced to a powderedform, all larger or granulated particles being retained within thesieve.

It is obvious that by a proper graduation of the size of the meshes ofthe sieve and of the adjustment of the rollers the bluing may be reducedto grains of any size desired. The lumps of indigo or bluing will all,at least, be reduced to a granulated form by ihe action of the rollers,and the sifting process is to remove all the finer or powderedparticles, while such as are of the proper size will remain in thesieve, and are then ready for the market.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- The improved laundry-bluing herein described, which consists ofbluing or indigo reduced to a granulated form, substantially as setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing improvement in laundry-bluing,as above described,Ihave hereunto set my hand this 30th day ofSeptember, 1878.

HENRY SAWYER.

Witnesses:

0. F. BROWN, CARROLL D. WRIGHT.

